Brad Mooar can still remember the day Ian Foster's name appeared on his phone, although it seems like a lifetime ago given how much he's been through in the past three months.
Mooar was confirmed as the final piece in new All Blacks coach Foster's management team last December, joining the team as an assistant coach.
But the move came after Mooar had departed the Crusaders at the end of last year's Super Rugby season to join Welsh Pro14 Scarlets as their head coach, meaning a move for him and his family from Christchurch to Llanelli.
Life had just begun to settle down when Mooar's phone buzzed with an unexpected number.
"I couldn't really believe Ian was ringing me," Mooar told 1 NEWS.
"I said, 'mate, I think you've got the wrong number', but then we talked through things and the All Blacks under his leadership was just incredibly enticing and really exciting to be a part of."
But actually joining Foster's crew has proved to be a marathon of a task, with Mooar's buyout from his position with Scarlets needed to be handled, the uprooting of his family after they'd just settled into life in the UK had to be discussed and then a global pandemic with travel restrictions was thrown in too.
Mooar said his family have effectively been in Level 4 for three months trying to get back to New Zealand.
"The facts are the facts and we just had to accept and deal with them." Mooar said.
"We were just really grateful that there was a system that allowed us to get home.
"We were in lockdown for two months in Wales and then the flight back home via Sydney to get to Auckland and then two weeks in the holiday inn at Auckland Airport.
"My wife has done a great job with the logistics around moving the family while I've had an eye on the exit at Scarlets and an entry into the All Blacks camp.
"She's done a superb job and the kids are back into school now."
All that's left now is to settle back into life in Christchurch but Mooar said his wife has a handle on that too.
"Anna and our oldest daughter are getting some things for the pad [this week] so we can shift in and start the new future."
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